With all eyes on the Green party as a potential power broker in a minority government, we look at where the Greens’ policies seem to align — or don’t — with those of the NDP and the Liberals in Postmedia’s 20 Hot Election Topics.

Below are brief summaries of some of the promises in the parties’ platforms. Based on their platform, the Greens seem to be most closely aligned with the NDP on 14 of the following 20 hot election issues and could lean either way on the other six.

The 14 issues where the Greens are most closely aligned with the NDP:

HOUSING

Liberals: The B.C. Liberals’ plan to make homes more affordable relies on the party’s promises to create high-paying jobs in technology and to streamline building regulations so that developers can build more multi-family dwellings faster.

NDP: In its platform, the NDP said it will build affordable housing, raising funds with a two-per-cent tax on property owned by people who pay no income tax in B.C. The party also said it would extend the current foreign buyers tax to condo pre-sales.

Greens: The Greens promised tax increases to crack down on speculation in B.C. real estate. The Greens said they would double B.C.’s current foreign buyers tax, to 30 per cent. They said they would increase the property transfer tax for wealthy homeowners. They also pledged to build thousands of affordable housing units.

On this issue the Greens are most likely to align themselves with the NDP. Both the Greens and the NDP have said rampant speculation in B.C.’s housing market needs to be curtailed with new tax measures. Both parties have pledged to build thousands of affordable housing units

TAXES

Liberals: The party pledged to cut Medical Service Plan premiums in half by 2018 for those earning less than $120,000, a $1-billion tax cut. The Liberals said they would eventually eliminate premiums, but have not set timeline. They also pledged a cut to the small business tax rate.

NDP: The NDP promised to cut the Medical Services Plan premium in half, and eliminate it within four years, possibly replacing it with a progressive tax. The party also pledged a half-point cut to small business and promised to reverse the Liberal tax cut to the top income bracket.

Greens: The Greens said they would eliminate MSP premiums. They also said they would increase the carbon tax to $70 per tonne by 2021 from $30 today and would count on the tax to bring in an additional $1.7 billion. Ottawa already plans to increase national carbon tax to $50 by 2022.

When it comes to taxes, the Greens are likely most closely aligned with the NDP on this issue — in part because they both advocate increases to the highest income tax bracket.

EDUCATION

Liberals: The Liberals promised to maintain what they have been doing for education while they have been in power. They promised to lower the interest rate on student loans to the prime rate and maintain the two-per-cent cap on tuition fee increases.

NDP: The NDP promised to provide “stability and proper funding” to the education system. The party also promised to eliminate interest on student loans and to reinstate tuition-free ESL and adult basic education classes.

Greens: The Greens promised to expand the education system to include free preschool for toddlers. They also promised to bring in grants for post-secondary students and to reinstate tuition-free adult basic education classes. They pledged to invest hundreds of millions in K-12 education.

On education the Greens are most likely to align themselves with the NDP. Both parties talk about expanded funding for education, although differ on how to spend the money. The Liberals advocate a more status-quo approach.

MENTAL HEALTH CARE

Liberals: The Liberals pledged to increase resources for pediatric and post-secondary mental health treatment, earmark resources for 28 addition treatment beds for youth, fund another 250 mental health and substance use beds, reduce wait lists for substance use treatment service. They also pledged to expand resources for the acquisition and renovation of buildings to be used as residences for those with mental health and substance use problems.

NDP: The NDP pledged to create a ministry of mental health and addictions and to improve mental health access and services for children in schools. The party pledged to start licensing addictions recovery houses.

Greens: The Greens pledged to establish a new ministry for mental health and addictions. They promised to redirect $80 million in government spending to help achieve that. They also pledged to create clinics for patients and their families to help them navigate mental health resources and services provided by various types of health professionals.

The Greens agree with the NDP that mental healthcare deserves its own ministry.

METRO TRANSPORTATION/TRANSIT FUNDING

Liberals: The Liberals pledged to match the federal government’s $2.2-billion commitment to Metro Vancouver transit projects over the next 11 years, and to negotiate with TransLink and feds on project specifics. Priorities for the party are Surrey LRT, Broadway subway lines.

NDP: The party said it is committed to funding 40 per cent of capital costs of every phase of the mayors’ 10-year vision for transit. The NDP also said it would work with municipalities to develop new TransLink governance model. They also promised to work to improve HandyDART service.

Greens: The Greens pledged to match federal funding of $2.2 billion for the Mayors’ Council’s 10-year transit improvement plan, suspend work on the Massey Bridge and review alternatives, and use carbon tax revenue, mobility pricing and tolls to pay for transit.

On this issue, the Greens are most likely to align themselves with the NDP. Both parties are opposed to the Massey Tunnel replacement bridge and have committed to supporting the 10-year regional transit plan, including giving mayors greater freedom to pursue new funding sources.

CHILD CARE

Liberals: The Liberals insist the $10/day plan is too expensive and subsidizes the rich. Plans to reduce waitlists by creating 8,700 new child care spaces by 2020, in addition to the 4,300 spaces opened since 2015.

NDP: The NDP said it would implement an affordable child-care system, at a cost $1.5 billion a year, over the next decade. Fees would be $10/day for full-time child care, $7 for part-time and free for low-income families. The system would be partly funded through a tax on the rich.

Greens: Promised a $4.239-billion system phased in over four years: 25 free hours per week of care for three- and four-year-olds. Free daycare for working parents of toddlers/babies, or a $500 monthly credit for parents at home.

On this issue the Greens are most likely to align themselves with the NDP. Although their platforms are not identical, both advocate for major new investments in child care compared to the Liberals’ more modest plans.

BUSINESS TAXES

Liberals: Promised to cut small-business tax rate to two per cent, phase out PST on business electricity bills, maintain competitive taxes to attract business and continue to reduce red tape by requiring that one regulation be eliminated for every new regulation put in place.

NDP: Pledged to raise the general corporate tax rate to 12 per cent from 11 per cent, cut the small-business tax rate to two per cent from 2.5 per cent, partner with post-secondary institutions to create innovation centres in the interior and Northern B.C., strengthen venture-capital tax credits.

Greens: The Greens said they would work with the federal government to develop systematic and fair taxes, simplify tax system with emphasis on greening the economy and modernizing labour laws to recognize the evolving nature of work, but increase the general corporate tax rate to 12 per cent from 11 per cent.

On this issue the Greens are more likely to align themselves with the NDP. Both parties made similar proposals to raise corporate taxes by a point to 12 per cent and cut small business taxes a half-a-point to two per cent. And both drew criticism from the Liberals for “tax-and-spend” tendencies in their platforms.

AGRICULTURE

Liberals: Pledged to Increase export of agrifood and seafood products by 25 per cent by 2020 and put an additional 91,000 hectares of agricultural land into production by 2020.

NDP: Promised to: revitalize the land reserve and the Agricultural Land Commission; purchase more B.C.-grown food for hospitals and other government facilities; assist growers with marketing.

Greens: Promised to invest $30 million on the long-term viability of agriculture, plus $40 million for research; enhance the protection of agricultural land; increase the proportion of ALR land in use for farming.

On this issue the Greens are most likely to align themselves with the NDP, which created the Agricultural Land Reserve in 1973 and has a strong interest in seeing it continue to thrive.

SITE C

Liberals: Christy Clark promised to push the 1,100-megawatt hydro dam past the point of no return and remains fully committed to completion of the $9-billion project.

NDP: John Horgan’s position is that the issue of need should be put to the B.C. Utilities Commission, the same recommendation made by a federal review panel into the hydro dam.

Greens: Andrew Weaver once favoured the project as good green energy, but today, as a politician, considers it a costly and wasteful subsidy for the LNG-export sector.

On this issue the Greens are most likely to align themselves with the NDP, which wants the issue of need referred to the B.C. Utilities Commission. Weaver once supported the hydro project, but is now opposed — and is unlikely to find common ground with Clark, who has promised to push the project beyond the point of no return.

NDP: Promised balanced budget for first three years and a surplus totalling $321 million by 2020 via tax cuts for top two per cent of earners, higher corporate taxes, and an empty-housing speculation tax.

Greens: Promised a deficit of $146 million in first year with a surplus in fourth year based mainly on carbon tax revenues. Spending paid for by tax credit cuts, increase in corporate tax and for income over $108,000.

On the issue of balanced budgets and debt, the Greens are most likely to align with NDP because both parties targeted surpluses in three or four years in their platforms. Both cited higher corporate taxes and tax cuts for high income earners.

FORESTRY

Liberals: Said they will continue trade missions to expand markets in Asia, promote the use of engineered wood products in tall-building construction, increase timber utilization in B.C.’s interior to create 500 jobs.

NDP: Pledged to reduce log exports, promote value-added timber processing, expand investments in reforestation, stimulate demand for B.C. wood products by requiring they be used in public construction projects.

On this issue the Greens are most likely to align themselves with the NDP. Both parties campaigned on undefined commitments to reduce log exports in favour of promoting value-added manufacturing and are more likely to find a more attentive audience for its ideas to protect old-growth forests and bolster enforcement of environmental regulations.

MINING

Liberals: Aim to have eight new mines permitted, under construction or in operation by 2022. Invest $18 million for mine permitting and oversight. Phase out PST on electricity, expand royalty credit program.

NDP: Pledged to revitalize mining with improved, properly resourced approval process. The party also promised to establish a mining jobs task force, remove PST on electricity and increase safety with independent oversight unit.

Greens: Promised to establish a natural resource compliance and enforcement unit, sector-wide, backed by an additional $20 million in funding.

The Greens are likely most closely aligned with the NDP because they both promised to increase monitoring and enforcement of natural resource development.

Greens: Opposes Kinder Morgan’s $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline project, saying the province is not prepared for a major oil spill and heavy oil tankers have no place on coast. Also opposed to LNG development.

The Greens are likely most closely aligned with the NDP because they both opposed Kinder Morgan’s $7.4-billion Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion.

POVERTY

Liberals: The Liberals say B.C. does not need a poverty reduction plan and they will focus on jobs as the best way to raise people’s incomes.

NDP: The NDP says it would implement a poverty reduction plan if elected. They also promised to raise welfare and disability assistance by $100 a month and allow people on disability to keep $200 more a month in earned income.

Greens: The Green party promised to bring in a pilot project to test a guaranteed minimum income. A similar project under way in Ontario gives people $1,320 a month.

On this issue the Greens are most likely to align themselves with the NDP. The two parties’ platforms include specific plans to reduce poverty, although the policies are not identical. The Liberals say the best solution to poverty is to continue to create jobs.

Issues where the Greens could lean either way:

HEALTH CARE

Liberals: The party promised to increase the number of medical school graduates to 400 annually by 2025 (now there are 288 graduates). They also promised to: train an additional 500 nurses per year by 2022 and to train another 100 nurse practitioners (there are now more than 400 NPs). They said they will allow NPs to access MSP fee codes and encourage them to work in areas where family doctors are scarce. They pledged to create more seats in schools for physiotherapists and speech therapists, expand fast-track system so that international medical school graduates can work in rural areas. They promised to invest nearly $100 million to improve ambulance response times and work supports, and to double hospice beds and create 500 more long-term care beds by 2022.

NDP: The NDP pledged to reduce costs of prescription drugs paid by individuals and give more money to UBC Therapeutics Initiative to help keep province’s drug costs down and patients safe. They advocate for national Pharmacare program. They also pledged to: establish urgent care centres that have extended hours and stay open seven days a week; boost paramedic numbers and counselling for their work-related stress; reduce surgical wait times and extend hours of operating rooms.

Greens: The Greens promised to expand government with a new ministry responsible for health promotion, disease prevention and active lifestyles. They promised to invest $35 million in nutrition and physical activity programs that will improve youth health. They pledge to give more incentives to new medical school grads to boost numbers of family doctors. They promised $100 million in funding to expand mixed-care teams of primary care, physiotherapists, nurse practitioners, midwives and dieticians. They pledged to free up acute care beds by investing more in long-term care facilities. They promised to improve staffing levels in residential care facilities.

On health care, the Greens do not appear to be at odds with either the Liberals or the NDP, especially for measures that would boost the numbers of health professionals and the way they collaborate in teams. But they would want to see more money and attention spent on preventive health care.

JOB CREATION/SKILLS TRAINING

Liberals: Build on record for job creation with a focus on high-tech training, responsible development of gas reserves, development of three LNG plants by 2020 and extend broadband Internet to rural communities to broaden tech options.

Greens: Establish an emerging-economy task force to deal with the changing nature of business, provide funding to support entrepreneurs and business incubators, promote investment in clean energy and transportation.

On this issue the Greens can likely find common ground with either party with its “new economy” proposals to support increased high-tech training and back initiatives with incubators for business startups and providing more financial support for entrepreneurialism.All parties made commitments to tap high tech, in some form, as a means to boost B.C.’s job prospects.

FIRST NATIONS

Liberals: Support involvement in the forest sector by tripling enrolment in the First Nations Forestry Technical Training Program by 2019. Implement recommendations from Grand Chief Ed John’s report.

NDP: Pledged to develop a curriculum that reflects the history of aboriginal people in B.C. The party also pledged to work to reduce the number of aboriginal people facing the justice system and to reduce incarceration rates.

Greens: Promised to establish a co-management stewardship model for the development of provincial resources, and work with the federal government to renew and reinvigorate the treaty process.

On this issue the Greens could align themselves with either the NDP or Liberals. Aboriginal candidates ran for all the parties, and First Nations are generally in the driver’s seat when it comes to partnership in development in B.C.

CARBON TAX/CLIMATE CHANGE

Liberals: Will maintain the current carbon tax of $30 per tonne until 2021. The federal government already plans to increase the tax to $50 a tonne by 2022.

NDP: The party said it would phase in the federally mandated $50/tonne carbon price by 2022. Revenue would provide families with a climate rebate cheque and go to climate solutions that reduce carbon pollution and create jobs.

Greens: Promised to progressively increase the carbon tax by $10 per year for four years beginning in 2018. Pledged to and interim target of 40-per-cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2007 levels by 2030.

On this issue, only the Greens are pushing a $70/tonne carbon tax by 2021, above the federally mandated $50/tonne carbon price by 2022. The Greens may be able to negotiate with NDP or Liberals on this issue.

SENIORS

Liberals: The party said it will help seniors by: doubling home reno tax credit to $20,000, creating respite tax credit up to $2,500 for people caring for seniors, investing $500 million to ensure residential facilities provide minimum 3.36 care hours/day.

NDP: The NDP promised to: increase funding so residential care facilities meet staffing requirements; improve services and length of home support visits; expand seniors’ centres in communities; expand a program that helps low-income seniors afford to stay in their rental homes.

Greens: Pledged to invest $35 million to help seniors stay in their homes. Also promised to invest $200 million to raise staffing in public care homes and ensure all facilities meet staffing guidelines. The Greens said they would invest in training doctors and nurses to provide end-of-life services.

On this issue, it is uncertain which party the Greens are most likely to align themselves with. All three parties have pledged to meet minimum care hours/day and to help seniors stay in their homes — although the platforms differ widely on this second objective. Only the Greens mention end-of-life training for doctors and nurses.

TOLLS

Liberals: The Liberals promised to cap bridge tolls at $500 per year by Jan. 1, 2018, saving daily commuters more than $1,000 per year. This would apply to planned new Massey and Pattullo bridges. This is expected to cost government $30 million annually.

NDP: The NDP pledged to eliminate tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges and to improve bridge use, reduce congestion. The party gave no indication of how much toll elimination will cost or how bridges will be funded.

Greens: The Greens said their plan is to implement a “rational” tolling system to amortize the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges and finance the region’s share of a 10-year transportation plan. Mobility pricing is proposed.

On this issue of tolls, it’s difficult to say with which party the Greens are most likely to align. The Greens did not advocate for eliminating tolls (as did the NDP) or limiting tolls (as did the Liberals), but instead talked about a “rational” tolling system. Both Greens and NDP support the idea of mobility pricing.

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